6 days after removing ads off my website and replaced with BTC donations.

[astrowilliam]

6 days ago I posted http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/202pts/im_taking_the_ads_off_my_popular_website_and/ about taking all the ads off my website http://www.spaceindustrynews.com and replacing them with donation links for BTC. I plan on doing this for 6 months and at that time if I'm not making enough money to keep the servers up I'll have to switch back to a traditional model.

Here's a recap of what has happened and what I've learned so far from my experience.

I've received some very positive feedback about my move away from traditional advertising to a donation based format. I've been contacted by numerous people in the industry ( NASA, etc. ) about this. They are truly intrigued and didn't really understand how I was going to keep the lights on.

The BTC community has been overwhelmingly supportive through this transition as well. I've gotten so many messages from people that have built systems for easier BTC integration and I'm truly grateful for that.

Mind you, this is all still very much an experiment and will continue until I run out of money for hosting.

I know what you're thinking, how much BTC has been donated so far?
Day 1: I received 0.0125 BTC which equals ~ $8.00 USD.
Day 2: 0.0015 BTC = ~ $0.95 USD
Day 3: 0.00 BTC = $0.00USD
Day 4: 0.00 BTC = $0.00USD
Day 5: 0.00 BTC = $0.00USD
Day 6: 0.00 BTC = $0.00USD

There are probably a few reasons for this. One is that after the initial post moved down the page less BTC influencers were coming to the site. My normal audience comes from links and Google so who knows if they user BTC at all.

This news doesn't halt me one bit. I'm in this for a while and will continue doing what is right and what is good.
Like I said before, this is still only a few days old so there will be design changes, traffic changes. I'm 100% behind BTC and believe it is the future of currency.

I'd like to get your feedback on this move away from traditional ads to BTC only donations. What do you think?

To those that have donated, thank you. I really do appreciate it.

[IrishFutbol]

Overwhelmingly supportive....$8.95 over 6 days....

I'd mention what the answer is, but I think you already know the answer to your question, and came here looking for donations.

[astrowilliam]

Overwhelmingly supportive....$8.95 over 6 days....

I'd mention what the answer is, but I think you already know the answer to your question, and came here looking for donations.

"Supportive" isn't measured in BTCs or $ amounts to me. There are a lot of people that are behind the idea and think it can change the way that content is consumed.

I'm not looking for donations, I'm looking for feedback. I'm totally funded for 6 months so donations aren't the #1 priority to me at this point. Changing the way that people think about content and science is my main initiative. If visitors are inclined to donate, great. If not, not a problem.

More importantly I want people to see that websites don't have to have ads screaming at them to be a relevant source of information.

[railzand]

nasa really looks at that site?

[flower1024]

personally i like sites where you are able to pay for an adfree version.
your site does not have an login (which i generally like), but maybe its enough to just give out "secret links" (i know such thing does not exist, but trust is not really an issue here atm).

eg: send 0.001btc and get an adfree month with url http://spaceindustrynews.com/kujghdd

[astrowilliam]

nasa really looks at that site?

I know some people at NASA. Some are friends, some are promotions people. So as a whole NASA doesn't all look at my site, just a few people that work there.

[g3raint]

just sent a donation

Hope all goes well

G

[astrowilliam]

just sent a donation

Hope all goes well

G

Thank you

[astrowilliam]

personally i like sites where you are able to pay for an adfree version.
your site does not have an login (which i generally like), but maybe its enough to just give out "secret links" (i know such thing does not exist, but trust is not really an issue here atm).

eg: send 0.001btc and get an adfree month with url http://spaceindustrynews.com/kujghdd

Thanks for the input, I thought of that too. Keep the ads for revenue but give people the option to opt-out if they feel like it. But I know that would cheapen the user experience still, ads are annoying to users and I want to shift their thought process and let them realize that there is a world (or Universe) of good content out there that has no advertisements.

The reason for not having a login is because it's strictly a use-case feature. There's really no reason to log into my content site. Logging in wouldn't add any value to the user experience that I can think of. Now...If I had a forum that may change.

[Joshuar]

you have a interesting website there, like the domain name too.

[Pentax]

you may be too far out ahead of the adoption cycle.

for this to work you need lots of people with digital money utilizing/accepting this sort of business model.  The Chicago Sun-Times instituted a pay system using bitcoin.  it might help to see how that is doing.

I do think this will come into more generally accepted use over the next few years, as more organizations realize they can monetize content with micro-payments, although it may be early days on this right now.

[amspir]

Might I suggest adding a link near the donation button that would let an uninformed, yet curious reader to read up on and perhaps acquire bitcoins?

[astrowilliam]

Hmm... what is the better of two evils? Displaying ads or requesting donations?

Let's see. Sometiimes I find the ads worthy of clicking through...

...rarely do I respond to begging requests from websites that offer marginal value.

There's your answer 









Let me say it again, stop begging!




Typical [Suspicious link removed]ignature: "If I've made your day then tip me at BTC: 1GthT13Yumol9091q2e4rfm7gH"

Are you the Red Cross or UNHCR or anything like that? No, you're not, you're just a beggar, so you can forget it.




Pretty simple. Use adverts on your site, don't beg.

 

To each their own. I work hard on the site and if people find value in it then they have a choice to contribute.

[astrowilliam]

you have a interesting website there, like the domain name too.

Thank you!

[rayfloyd]

To each their own. I work hard on the site and if people find value in it then they have a choice to contribute.

You started the topic seeking the opinions of other people. You need to dial down on the noob and get your shit together - you asked for commentary, you got it. Sure you can disagree, that's only to be expected, but the very least you can be is appreciative that people have commented.

Here's what you wrote: "I'd like to get your feedback on this move away from traditional ads to BTC only donations. What do you think?"

Refer to my specific advertising verses begging comments in the posts above. Maybe if you read and think about them it will help you stop pretending that you are eating dust from the Moon, ok?

There's a subtle difference between constructive criticism, and giving an opinion while acting like an asshole. All of your replies come off as mean and uncalled for.

[googlemaster1]

Why not do both?  A donation of .01 and you could stuff a cookie in their browser and give them a secret link for an ad free experience.  I like the idea, but like the rest of the folks here said, relevant adverts are not necessarily a bad thing.  There is a reason Google is one of the richest companies in the world, because they understand this.  You should too!

That said, I'm not going to knock anyone for incorporating bitcoin into their site.  So, hats off to you, and I hope more sites, big or small, do the same thing.

[rayfloyd]

Ahh well. When you buy a share it means someone has taken the exact opposite view and sold it to you, there's no value judgement.

But when you ask for opinions and then take umbrage about comments forthcoming, negative remarks from the OP and limp-fisted commentators such as yourself deserve to be lambasted and ridiculed for nativity.

You can fuck off now.

Trolls like you should be banned on sight.

[astrowilliam]

Ahh well. When you buy a share it means someone has taken the exact opposite view and sold it to you, there's no value judgement.

But when you ask for opinions and then take umbrage about comments forthcoming, negative remarks from the OP and limp-fisted commentators such as yourself deserve to be lambasted and ridiculed for nativity.

You can fuck off now.

Trolls like you should be banned on sight.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I try not to feed the trolls. He sent me a PM as well with this "You got slayed, lmao! ".

[astrowilliam]

Why not do both?  A donation of .01 and you could stuff a cookie in their browser and give them a secret link for an ad free experience.  I like the idea, but like the rest of the folks here said, relevant adverts are not necessarily a bad thing.  There is a reason Google is one of the richest companies in the world, because they understand this.  You should too!

That said, I'm not going to knock anyone for incorporating bitcoin into their site.  So, hats off to you, and I hope more sites, big or small, do the same thing.

I like that idea, but I'd rather cut out all ads to begin with and give the user a better experience. I'm still fine tuning the ideas so I'll take this into consideration though.

[rayfloyd]

Why not do both?  A donation of .01 and you could stuff a cookie in their browser and give them a secret link for an ad free experience.  I like the idea, but like the rest of the folks here said, relevant adverts are not necessarily a bad thing.  There is a reason Google is one of the richest companies in the world, because they understand this.  You should too!

That said, I'm not going to knock anyone for incorporating bitcoin into their site.  So, hats off to you, and I hope more sites, big or small, do the same thing.

I like that idea, but I'd rather cut out all ads to begin with and give the user a better experience. I'm still fine tuning the ideas so I'll take this into consideration though.

When I download games on android, I'll gladly pay for an ad free version if I like the game. I would do the same with a website I like. That is if I didn't use adblock though.